Poll: Obama's approval on Syria sinks

9/10/13 7:06 AM EDT

The public is not happy with how President Barack Obama is handling the situation in Syria, a new poll shows, with less than one-third approving of the job he’s doing.

In a 7 point drop from August, only 28 percent said they approve of the way Obama is handling Syria, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Tuesday. Fifty-seven percent disapproved, a 13 point jump since August.

A third of those surveyed said the president had made a convincing case for military intervention, while 54 percent said he had not.

A CNN/ORC International poll out Tuesday also found Obama’s overall numbers even, with the public split almost 50-50 on whether Obama is a “strong and decisive leader,” whether he “inspires confidence” and whether he is “honest and trustworthy.”

In that poll, 72 percent said they understand Obama’s policy on Syria somewhat or completely, while 28 percent said they didn’t understand it much or not at all.

In a McClatchy-Marist Poll also out Tuesday, Americans were split as to whether Obama has a clear idea of what he wants to do in Syria. Fifty percent of those surveyed said they did not think Obama knows what he wants the U.S. to do in Syria, while 41 percent believe he does.

Approval for Obama’s handling of foreign policy also dropped to a new low since he took office, according to McClatchy-Marist polling. Just 38 percent approved of Obama on foreign policy, and 54 percent disapproved.

The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll surveyed 1,000 adults from Sept. 5 to 8 and has an error margin of plus-minus 3.1 percentage points. The CNN/ORC poll was conducted from Sept. 6 to 8 of 1,022 adults, and has an error margin of plus-minus 3 percentage points. McClatchy-Marist surveyed 963 adults on Sept. 7 and 8 for its poll, which has a margin of error of plus-minus 3.2 percentage points.This post has been updated.